We went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and learned
a lot about mummies inancient Egypt. The original
name for Egypt is Kemit. Kemit means black land and the Nile River has
black soil around it that is good for planting. When they buried their dead they decorated
the coffins with amulets.Amulets are good
luck charms for the afterlife.Dwayne

The beetle is a symbol of rebirth
and that is why it is important. It laysits eggs
in animal droppings so they will have something to eat when they are born.
It makes new life from waste. It also pushes the ball of waste around.
That made the Egyptians think that their sun god also pushed the ball of
the sun around the sky. The sun seemed to go away each night but itcame back each day. So the sun was also a symbol of
rebirth. Their sun
godhad the head of a beetle.Kaseya

They put vultures' wings on their goddesses
because the vulture eats deadanimals and then
gives birth to babies. It makes new life from death. When you die
the goddess can help you live a good afterlife in the future.Alecia

They also buried people with statues
of servants to bring food, water, andclothing
for the dead person to use in the afterlife.Kimberly

The pictures often show the dead person
being given water. Water was asign of life.
If a man was painted blue it represented water and air and itmeant he was a god. You could also tell he was a god because
he had a curved beard on his chin. The goddesses were painted yellow
or orange to represent the sun.

Belqis

We learned about mummification. First
they would break the nose and pullout the brain.
They threw it away because they did not think it wasimportant. They left the heart in because they thought that
was where thesoul was. They also saved the liver,
lungs, stomach, and intestines. Theyput
them in special jars with figures of a jackal, a monkey, a man, and afalcon on top to guard them. They buried them with
the person, but notinside the body where they would
rot. They dried out the body by covering it in salt and then they wrapped
it in cloth and amber.Jahquan

When you died they thought you would
go to a place like heaven if you hadlived a good life.
Osiris, the god of the underworld, would weigh yourheart on a scale. If it weighed more than a feather it meant that
you hadnot told the truth.Aaron

If your heart weighed more than
truth you would be eaten by a monster named Ammut. Ammut is part crocodile,
part lion, and part hippopotamus. All ofthose animals
used to live in Egypt and people were afraid of them.Alisa

We read about the most famous mummy,
King Tutankhamon,
in class. He was madepharaoh when he was just nine
years old and then he died when he waseighteen.
You can still see the pyramid where he was buried in Egypt in 3,000 B.C.Sasha

You can learn more about the pharaohs and pyramids
at this internet web site.